Driving mechanism for geared locomotives



Ju1y1,.1'924.- 41,499,870

s. PICKERING y DRIVING MECHANISM FOR GEARED LOCOMOTIVES Fild dan. 18. 1925 Patented July 1, v1924..

UN'EED STATES SAMUEL PICKERING, OF BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON. 'v

DRIvrNG MEcHnnIsM non Gnannn LoooMo'rIvns.

fr .orrcs.

application inea January 1s, 1923. serial No. 513,397.

To` all whom t may con-cern:

Be it known lthat I, SAMUEL PICKERING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bellevue, county .of King, and State of andlexa'ct specification, such as will enable others vskilled in the art to which it appertains to .make and use the same.

The invention is the providing of la positive means for drivinggeared locomotives whereby the main shaft may be. placed on the engine frame (so that the kbevel gears may remain ina fixed position relative to one another` and sov that the main shaft may be continued to a third set of trucks through a suitable universal and expansible joint.

V,The invention is an .improvement vupon my inventions in the same artv as set forth in my patents, thenuinbers of which are 1,367,71lV and 1,386,528 andthe dates of. whichare respectively February 8, 1921, and August 2, 1921.

I The object of my invention isto provide a geared drive for locomotives .which drives each axle individually and in which the flexible connections are placed in such a position that the gears willremain iin xed positions when the engine goes around a curve or vibrates from a rough track, such asa logging track. 1 f Y Another objectofthe 'invention is to ref duce the resistance yto curving which is caused by placing .the main shaft on the sides ofthe trucks as this reduces the motive power and causes unnecessary wear on the flanges of the wheels.

Another obj ect of the invention is to place the, main driving shaft in a xedyposition so that it will not be necessary to weaken it by placing universal and telescoping joints in it. Y

Another obj ect of the invention is to provide .a direct connection between the main Y, and the wheel.

driving shaft and the wheels which will be practically in a straight vline -while under strain and which will at the same time provide aV flexible connection between the shaft Another object of the invention is to provide a means for driving geared locomotives in which the bevel gears, may be removed from the wheels and placed in fixed, positions lon the main frame.

And a further object ofthe inventionis Maaate to provide a slidabl'e( guide whichvconnects,

the bearing holding the gear that lmeshes v With these ends in view the invention emf,

with the gear on the axle Vto the bolster.

bodies a locomotive having its boiler placed to one side of the lcenter of the trucks, a vertical engine on onel sideofthefboiler with. its crank-shaft onI the side of the `main` frame, the main driving shaft connected to the Vends of the crank-shaft Vby flange couplings, other shafts connected 'toV the main shaft by bevel'gears, and extending across the trucks above the axles,"said shafts hav# ing universal and telescoping oints in lthem and having spur gears on their` endswhich mesh with other spur gears on the axles, I and bearings slidably'co'nnected tothe boli sters which supportthe ends ofthe trans-V verse shafts.

'Other features and advantages of thefinivention will appear from the following deF-` scription taken in connection with the drawings, whereinz- :i

Figure 1 isthe side elevation of an engine. l

of the axles. Y

Figure 3 is aflongitudinal section showing they sliding connection between the trans` verse shaft and the bolster. Y 1

Figure l isa plan view showing the ilexible shaft and sliding connection. Y

In the drawings I khave shown my'locomotive asitwould be constructed wherein nu-4 Figure 2 vis a cross `section .showin the ,Y connection between the main shaft an` one meral 1 Aindicates. the vertical enginel which is connected tothe crankshaft on the side of themain frame 3. A t the forward end of ,the crank-shaft is a section 4 of the main driving shaft'and atthebrear of the crank-shaft is another section 5 which drivesthe rear wheels. These sections are connected'to the crank-shaft'by thecouplings 6 and A7 and the rear end of lthe section 5 is connected through a'univers'al and expansible joint 8 to a rear 'section 9 through which the wheelsl of the tender may be driven. i p y I 1 Above each' axle is a transverser shaft 1.0 as shown in Figure 2 which is supported in bearings'll and'12 and driven through bevel l5 in one side which slides over a tongue 16 on the side of the bolster so that it may be held in the vertical position and at the same time move upward and downward. The transverse shaft 10 has universal joints 17 and 18 in it and a polygonal or telescoping connection 19 between the joints which provides for lateral movement between the main frame of the truck while the universal joints provide for perpendicular or longitudinal movement.

On the lower end of the transverse shaft 10 is a spur gear 20 which meshes with another spur gear 21 on the axle adjacent the wheel and it will be seen that these will remain in positive engagement at all times. fAs the journals supporting the axles wear and lateral motion develops in the wheels the teeth of the spur gears will slide laterally in relation to each other and asthe face of the gears may be a little more than necessary this movement will not impair their strength.

It will be seen that standard spring truck journals may be used for the axles as the wheels may move laterally or up and down without interfering with the driving mechanism. The boiler may be placed on the side of the center as usual to balance the engine and driving shaft and the remainder of the locomotive may be constructed in the usual manner. It will be seen that with this means for driving, as many of the wheels as may be desired may be driven by inserting transverse shafts 10 and connecting them as shown and described; and the main shaft may be extended to drive the wheels of the tender as shown or may end at the end of the rear truck of the locomotive.

It will be understood that changes vmay be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. One of which changes may bein the design of the universal joints 17 and 18 or in the type of telescoping connections 19 as this connection may be made round with a key or with as many sides as may be desired. Another change may be in the use of special gears in place of the gears 20 and 21 which will enable the transverse shaft 10 to be in a straight line or in the making of the gears Y 2O and 21 of larger diameters so that the center of the gear 2O will raise which will also permit the transverse shaft 10 to be in a straight line. Another change may be in the use of as many cylinders as may be desired and still another may be in the type of couplings between the crank-shaft and the driving shafts, or between the rear section of the driving shaft` and the sectionV on the tender.

kThe construction will be readily understood from the/foregoing description. To use the locomotive it may be assembled as shown and described and as'it travels over a rough track the Vwheels may raise` and lower and as they move upward or downward the lower end of the transverse shaft 10 will move while the upper end upon which the bevel gear is mounted will remain stationary so thatk the position between the bevel gears will remain fixed. It will also be seen thatv as the locomotive passes around a curve the trucks may twist and the lengthening or the shortening of the distance between the spur gears and the bevel gears will be taken care of by the telescopig connection 19 so ythat the main shaft may remain in a stationary position on the side of the main frame and, therefore, will not be subject to twists or bends or lengthening or shortening which will eliminate the enormous wear that develops in driving shafts of geared locomotives, and which will also increase the motive power by reducing the friction. It will also be seen that by moving 'the main driving shaft from the ends of the axles to the main frame the resistance to curving will be eliminated and this will reduce the wear on the wheel flanges. rllhe wear in the bevel gears will also be greatly reduced as they are placed in fixed positions. Therefore, it will'be seen that with a driving mechanism of this type it will be possible to reduce the wear that develops in a geared locomotive to a minimum because the iiexible connections which include universal joints and telescoping members that utilize a great deal of power and cause enormous wear, have been removedl from the main driving shaft and placed in the individual axle connections where it is possible to keep them practically in straight lines.

Having thus fully described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a locomotive .having driving wheels j ournaled in swinging trucks; driving means for saidrwheels comprising a gear mounted on the axle meshing with another gear above it and a flexible connection between the upper gear and a pair of bevel gears, one of which is on the main shaft which is mounted on the main frame.

2. A locomotive having wheels mounted in standard trucks; gears on the laxles of the wheels; Aother gears above these gears; journals that are attached to the axles and slidably attached to the holsters of the 'trucks for` supporting the upper gears; transverse shafts connected to the upper gearsthrough 4universal joints the opposite ends of which are connected to bevel gears on the main frame through other universal joints; said transverse shafts having telescoping sections in them; andother bevel gears which are mounted on the main driving shaft on the side of the-main frame and which mesh with the gears at the ends of the transverse shafts; said locomotive being provided with llitble means for driving the main driving 3. A locomotive having its boiler placed to one side of the center; steam cylinders on the opposite side of the center with suitable pistons and connecting rods which are connected to a suitable crank-shaft; a main driving shaft connected to the crank-shaft and supported in bearings on the side of the main frame; bevel gears on the main driving shaft which mesh With other bevel gears on the ends of transverse shafts above the axles, said transverse shafts having universal and ,ftelescoping joints; spur gears on the opposite ends of the transverse shafts which mesh With spur gears on the axles; and bearings for supporting the ends of the transverse shafts upon which the spur gears are mounted Which are slidably connected to the bolsters of the'trucks.

4. A locomotive having driving Wheels journaled in swinging trucks; a spur gear attached to the inside of the left hand driving gear; a boxing slidably attached to the truck supporting the Wheels which has a lower bearing on the driving axle and an upper bearing which supports a stub shaft other universal joint at its opposite end;

another stub shaft supported in a bearing on the bottom of the main frame, one end of Which is connected to the latter universal joint and the other end of which has a bevel gear on it that meshes With a bevel gear on the main driving shaft on the side of the main frame; and a suitable means for driving the main drivin shaft.

5. A locomotive aving driving Wheels j ournaled in swinging trucks; driving means forsaid Wheels comprising transverse shafts above the axles having universal and telescoping joints in them, spur gears on one of their ends meshing With similar gears on the axles and bevel gears on their opposite ends meshing with similar gears on the main driving shaft; said main driving shaft being mounted in bearings on the side of the main frame and driven by a vertical engine in the side of the locomotive. l j

SAMUEL PICKERING. 

